My Only Wish This Year
by SSidle
Summary: Life isn't exactly easy when a Christmas song has Danny starting each day with a cold shower. Warning: contains slash, some innuendos and language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok, this is my very first attempt at both slash and Danny/Don so please forgive any little mistakes and let me know if I totally missed the mark.

Danny woke with a start when his alarm went off. He smacked it until it stopped, cursing, and dragged himself out of bed still muttering to himself. _Starting another day with a cold shower….Woo-Fucking-Hoo, _Danny thought to himself as he tossed his pajama pants in the hamper.

He was going on two weeks now of waking up sweaty and sticky every morning. It was getting ridiculous. He hadn't even been this bad as a teenager. But here he was. It had been happening ever since he'd heard that damn Christmas song about getting their "baby" as a present from Santa. As asinine as it was, all he could dream about since then was a certain detective in nothing but a "big red bow." He might have been fine if that same person hadn't taken to wearing red holiday ties (which were hideous by the way…..but still reminded him of the damn bow) every day. If he hadn't known better, he would have suspected that it was on purpose.

Danny reminded himself as he stepped out of the shower that it wasn't on purpose. Don would have no way of knowing about Danny's recent fantasies, and even if he somehow did….no he definitely didn't. Don would have deserted him in an instant if he ever found out. Especially if he knew that it wasn't the first time he'd fantasized about him. Danny had been doing it almost since they met. But Don never needed to know that. They could go along being friends like they always had and that would be the end of it. He would just have to get over this horny teenager shit and face reality. There was no way Don would ever be interested in him that way. Don hadn't said it outright, but Danny had seen him and Angell together. He'd even blown off a few of their bi-weekly hangouts to be with her.

Danny knew he shouldn't be naïve enough to think that Don would ever come around. Don was one of "those guys." He could have any girl he wanted, and did when it suited him. Although Danny liked Angell, Don had never blown him off for a girl before. He would never admit jealousy.

* * *

It took three times through the Pledge of Allegiance, 2 cold showers, way to long of thinking about him mother naked, and a fucking partridge in a pear tree for him to calm down enough to get into the lab normally.

This was of course all thrown out the window 5 second after he arrived at the lab. No sooner had he dumped his stuff in his locker and he headed for coffee in the break room that he ran into the star of his fantasies….literally. He'd been so busy making sure not to think about Don, that he'd failed to see the detective standing right in his path trying to get his attention. Don caught Danny's arms to keep him from falling and Danny had to fight to get the wishful thinking to shut the hell up. He refused to allow himself to imagine that Don's lingering hold was because of some sort of hidden passionate feeling for him on not that Don was a little worried since he looked pale and distraught.

Instantly having a 'problem' from the incident and proximity, Danny hurried away from Don before he could say anything. He knew if he stayed even a second longer that he would have blown their entire friendship by attempting to jump him right there in the hallway. Danny didn't look back as he took off; missing the other man's confused and slightly hurt expression.

Mac was a little concerned when Danny came to him later that day vehemently requesting that he not be made to work with Don for a while. At least until after the New Year. Normally he would have just told him to get over it and do his job, but something stopped him. For one, those two never fought, at least not to the point where they could work together. But mostly Mac noticed everything and it certainly hadn't escaped him that Danny had feelings for Don. He didn't want to see Danny hurt or his team suffer from personal issues. He granted Danny's request and hoped that Stella had been right when she said that once those two admitted that they both were interested in the other it would better for everyone.

* * *

For the next few days it was very obvious to everyone that Danny was avoiding Don. No one said anything, they just watched and wondered. They had only ever seen Mac and Stella fight to the point of not being able to work together (although the general consensus on that was sexual tension) and they had never really seen Danny and Don ever fight. What was even more interesting was that Don seemed to be oblivious as to why he was apparently in trouble with Danny. More than once he had been seen waiting at Danny's locker and all but pouting when he never showed. The rumor mill went into high gear.

A/N: Well? Please let me know what you think. This is a work in progress, but I wont continue if it totally sucks. Constructive criticism is welcome, please no flames though. Lots of love and Happy Holiday Season to all. --SSidle--


	2. Chapter 2

In the end it was only Stella who had enough gumption to confront the issue and find out what was really going on, beyond all the rumors. She went to see Don first, but after over an hour of probing she had about as much as Don usually got from his witness interviews, ie bupkus. She found out that Danny had been kind of distant for 2 weeks, they hadn't actually spoken in almost a week and Danny had been really weird towards him since they ran into each other in the hallway. What interested and worried Stella the most was that Don apparently had no idea what he'd done to deserve the silent treatment and everything. She knew that Danny always confronted issues he had with people head on. If he had an issue with someone, he would typically get into their face until he was satisfied that they were sorry. It intrigued her that he was different with Don, but at the same time it worried her that it was big enough that he would rather hide from it than deal with it.

She was fairly certain that with the way he'd been acting that Danny would clam up the minute she confronted him if she didn't already know what was going on already. Since she already had Don's end of it, she went to Mac, knowing that Danny went to him for a lot of things, and since Danny hadn't once been assigned to work with Don like he usually was, she figured that Mac already had an idea of what was going on.

Stella was sitting at his desk when Mac came into his office a little while later. He looked her questioningly as he sat in one of the other chairs, knowing she wouldn't give up the much more comfortable desk chair. He waited without saying anything, he knew she would tell him why she was there whether or not he wanted to know or get involved. It took her a whole 5 seconds before she started.

"Ok, so I know you had something to do with Danny and Don not working together. What did he say to you?" She gave Mac the look that dared him to not give her what she wanted, the one he could never say no to, for safety sake of course.

"He simply said that it would be best for everyone if the two of them didn't work together until after the holidays. I figured that this is a stressful time enough without forcing any more drama to take place that could easily be avoided."

"But why did he ask? I already talked to Don and he has no clue why Danny is avoiding him. He actually seems pretty hurt by it."

"He didn't say, and I didn't ask. But I think we both have an idea why."

"I know….but he hasn't gone this far before and it's been a long time that he's had feelings for Don. I can't seem to figure out what happened that would set him off. Everyone is talking about it but no one can figure out what's going on. I just want to find out before I talk to Danny."

"I don't know. Maybe Don got a new girlfriend or something. It could be a jealousy issue. Or maybe it could be the season. There's a lot of focus on couples right now, that can really be a slap to someone who is interested in someone who doesn't see them like that." Mac's tone belied that he knew what that was like but, as always, Stella chalked it up to it being someone else, as she had for years, not knowing the truth.

"Alright. I guess I can talk to Angell, she and Don are pretty close, she should know if he has a girlfriend."

"Let me know when you figure it out."

Stella left Mac's office and headed out in search of the female detective. She found her buried under a mountain of paperwork, trying to catch up. Stella sat herself down on the other side and waited for her to notice the guest. It took almost 10 minutes before she looked up long enough to see Stella.

"Hey Stella, what can I do for you? I haven't gotten a call."

"It's not about a case. It's about Don."

"Oh thank god, please tell me you know what's going on." Stella looked at her questioningly. "He's been sleeping on my couch all week. I don't know how to get him to leave. All he does is mope. And you know Don, that's not like him at all."

"He hasn't said anything about what's going on?"

"No, he just keeps mentioning how he fucked up and he doesn't know how or how to fix it. I have no idea what he's talking about."

"Ok, well, I talked to him earlier and he said that Danny's been distant for a while, hasn't talked to him in a week and he's been even more weird since they ran into each other the other day. And on top of it, Danny talked to Mac and requested that they not work together at least until after the holidays."

Angell sighed in relief, confusing Stella. "Ok. Well that makes sense now."

"What does?" Totally confused.

"Ok, well Don's been trying to keep a little bit of distance between him and Danny for a little bit now, apparently….well…." lowering her voice, " Don kinda realized there was something between him and Danny that panicked him a bit, since Don is, you know, one of 'those guys', he keeps harping on how it's just a fluke, that he's not gay or anything."

Stella smiled. "At least he finally realized it. I've known something would happen between those two eventually, but I was starting to give up hope. I just wish I knew what made Danny freak out, he came to terms with his thing for Don a long time ago."

"How do you know that?"

"Danny panicked about it too, but I took him out and pried it out of him with a few drinks. We bonded over relationship issues and he felt better."

"It probably didn't help Danny's issue right now then, but Don's been spending more and more time with me. I think he even started blowing off Danny for us to hang out."

"That's probably a big part of it. Danny probably thinks you two are together." Stella had to laugh at the face the detective made at the suggestion.

"Oh yeah, I always want to date guys I think of as my brother." There was a pause as she got over her discust. Then, "Please fix this. I need him off my couch. I mean, I want to see him happy and all, but really…."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I'm sorry it's been taking me so long to update, but with finals and all.....I promise it will be done before the holidays though!

Stella was grateful to Mac when later that day she was assigned to work a case with Danny. It gave her a chance to talk to him casually and not have him get his back up by her seeking him out. She met him there at the scene and was reminded why she needed to get them over this and soon for both their sake the minute she saw Danny. He looked like shit to say the least. It was obvious that he was not sleeping well, if at all, the dark circles, bags and generally rumpled appearance gave him away. Danny was known for always looking put together. Even when he was called in in the middle of the night or on his days off he looked like he'd taken hours to get ready. Stella was seeing now why everyone would be talking about him; he was looking less put together and more like he'd been run over several times. Still determined to not have Danny close up, she approached him as she always would, seemingly all business. She questioned him about the case and got to work, all the while observing him while he worked. Before they headed back to the lab, she went over to him with a reassuring smile.

"Hey Danny, you wanna grab some food once drop this off at the lab?" She kept her tone gentle and easy so he didn't get suspicious.

"I don't think so Stell. There's a lot here and it's gonna take hours to finish."

"Come on Danny. Please don't make me go by myself again. I kinda need to talk. I told you how I wanted to ask Mac to come with me to the Christmas party, and I found out today he already has a date. It's been a crappy day and you're always so good at making me feel better." She laid it on thick, realizing this wasn't the Danny she was used to. Danny sighed and nodded a minute later, following her.

As soon as she could, Stella dragged Danny to the café she always went to. Neither said anything for a while, she just looked at him, trying to figure out just what had him so out of it. He was her friend and it worried her to see him look so distraught. The whole thing was bringing out the mom in her. She waited until they were halfway through their meals before she started.

"Danny please talk to me. I'm not going to play around with this anymore. You two need to fix this."

"Stella…."

"Don't 'Stella' me." She grimaced a second realizing that not only did she feel like a mom, she was sounding like one, "I know something is wrong, hell everyone does. The whole lab and precinct have been talking about it all week. You two not working together, you looking like crap, Don spending half his time pouting and looking for you….it's obvious something happened between you two. Please just talk to me. You know full well I'm not going to judge. I just want you two to be happy. You two can't break up your friendship because of a misunderstanding."

"It's nothing. I just need some space. I realized I need to get over this and I'm just trying to work on it."

"Get over what? Him? Jesus Danny, I can't believe that you can't see that he has the same problem. Do you know he's been sleeping on Angell's couch since you stopped talking to him? He's been waiting at your locker for you almost every day. He has it bad Danny."

"Yeah whatever you say Stell." Danny said with a sad, sarcastic laugh looking down into his food.

"I'm not kidding Danny. I've talked to both Angell and Don today about it. She's worried about Don, especially since he did with her the same thing you did with me a while back. That's why he's been spending more time with her. He's been scared that you wouldn't be friends with him anymore if you found out he had feelings for you. And now he thinks he's lost you all together with the way you've been acting. And when I talked to Don I almost thought he was going to cry. He has no idea what he did to piss you off, and every time he goes to find out and apologize you run away. He's really torn up by it."

"Oh come on, you really think I'm going to buy all that? Don's been sleeping at Angell's place 'cause he's sleeping with her, and if he's on the couch, he did something to piss her off. Same reason why he's been upset or whatever. He's been trying to talk to me 'cause he needs to vent about her, and I just don't want to have to listen to it again. I'm always the one there when he has a breakup or fight with his girlfriends. But right now I need space to get over this and I can't deal with his girl problems right now." If possible, he looked even worse; it was like he was collapsing in on himself. She needed to do something a little more dramatic and fast.

She excused herself to the bathroom and called Angell. The two of them talked quickly, working out a plan. They needed the boys to talk, and if they wouldn't do it on their own, they would force them to face one another and work it out. Stella went back to Danny and took him back to the lab.

Neither Danny nor Don was really sure how the girls managed it, but the next thing they knew was that they were locked in an interrogation room together. They looked at each other for a minute, both wondering how the hell they were going to get out of this one. On the other side of the glass, Stella and Angell sat down and prepared to either watch magic happen or have to go in a break up a fight.

It took almost an hour of them staring at each other before either made a move to speak. They both moved so they were standing directly in front of the other, staring one another in the eyes. The girls moved to the edge of their seats as they both opened their mouths to speak.

A/N: Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you think, pretty please ? Hugs and love --SSidle--


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, I've been working on another piece on and off and inspiration hit there first. Thanks so much to all who are sticking with me on this!

The two men stared at each other a full 5 minutes before either of them made any move. There was a massive shift about to happen and they both knew it. They needed a minute to prepare them or they'd be knocked back on their asses.

Danny moved first. This whole "fight" so-to-speak was his fault. Don hadn't really done anything wrong. If he wanted to date Angell, then he should wish his best friend all the best…..Who was he kidding? He would never be able to really be happy for them, the little green monster of jealousy would always be there in the background reminding him that Don should be his. But standing there with him, looking him in the eyes he saw a flicker of something that made his hopes flare. There was a desire hidden deep in the depths of the other man's eyes. God how he prayed that it was for him.

Don waited, not sure if he should make the first move or not. He was both relieved and nervous when Danny moved forward first. He wasn't sure what Danny was going to do. He knew full well the CSI was unpredictable, his moods could shift faster than a pregnant woman's. He stared into Danny's eyes, searching for a sign of what he was going to do. If he was going to hit him or kiss him he didn't know. While he wasn't sure if he'd done something to deserve Danny being pissed, he still wasn't sure if he should chance it by getting closer. He prided himself on being able to read Danny better than anyone…most of the time. Apparently there had been things he'd been missing for years. He stepped closer finally, moving right in front of the shorter man.

They continued to stand there unmoving and silent for what seemed like an eternity. They would laugh together later at how cliché the whole scene had been. Just like all the cheesy stories and movies time seemed to stand still and the world narrowed down to just the two of them. They continued to stare, trying to silently convey all the emotions they had both been bottling up for so long.

What seemed like years later they moved. When they looked back on it, neither could say who leaned in first, but in the next instant they were lip-locked with hands everywhere.

On the other side of the glass the girls congratulated themselves on a job well done. They were so caught up in their happy dance that they failed to notice both Mac and the boys standing there watching them for a quite a while. Once they did they froze mid-move, frozen in blackmail-worthy poses. They just stood like that until the three men started laughing uncontrollably. The women relaxed and laughed with them when they realized how ridiculous they must have looked.

Once they had all calmed down and caught their breath, Stella and Angell looked at the new couple, waiting to see if they would happy or upset at their meddling. To everyone's surprise they were enveloped in a hug from the two men with profuse thank yous. Stella blushed and swatted at Don when he suggested that they shove her and Mac into the room next.

Later that day as they all headed home for the night, Stella stood watching with a smile as Danny and Don left with arms around one another. She jumped a little when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and saw Mac standing there with an amused expression on his face. Without a word the two left arm-in-arm, inspired by their coworkers and friends.

A/N: This is not the end I promise! I will post their Christmas before the holiday. Thank you to all who have reviewed, it means a ton! Hugs and Love --SSidle--


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